Some 6,000 Hawaii students at 170 schools statewide commemorated the 71st anniversary of Dec. 7, 1941, by learning about the improbable friendship of a Pearl Harbor survivor and a Japa­nese fighter pilot.

In simultaneous events Friday afternoon, children were read "Pearl Harbor Warriors: The Bugler, the Pilot, the Friendship," a book that recounts the story of two World War II veterans: American Marine Richard Fiske and Zenji Abe, who flew one of the dive bombers that attacked Pearl Harbor.

At a reading at Pearlridge Elementary, students were surprised with a visit from Abe’s daughter, Naomi Shin, and from Pearl Harbor survivor Sterling Cale.

Cale, 91, a good friend of Fiske’s, talked to the group of about 40 students gathered in the school’s library about some of the grisly scenes he witnessed on Dec. 7, 1941, and about the importance of remembering — and forgiving.

He closed his speech to the children with, "Always remember Pearl Harbor. Never forget Pearl Harbor."

Students said Cale’s words — and the story of Fiske and Abe — had an impact on them.

"I’ve learned that war is very frightful," said Marisa Mai­ava, 11. "And I’ve learned that people, no matter how much they hate each other, can always become friends in the end."

Kacie Tomoyasu, also 11, said that while she has visited the Pearl Harbor memorial before, she never imagined just how scary Dec. 7, 1941, must have been.

"A lot of people lost their lives," she said. "It was a very tragic day."

Cale, who visits schools around the country, was a hospital corpsman at Pearl Harbor and helped in the gruesome task of pulling remains from the water and from the USS Arizona after the attacks.

He said telling his story helps children see a historical event as real.

"I tell them what I saw," he said.

Before Cale spoke, National Park Service ranger Nicole Brown read "Pearl Harbor Warriors."

The book, written as a series of letters between the author and her granddaughter, recounts the events of Dec. 7, 1941, and the story of Fiske and Abe.

In 1941 Fiske was a 19-year-old bugler aboard the battleship USS Virginia, which was hit by Japa­nese torpedoes and two aerial bombs.

Fiske and Abe reconciled some five decades after the Pearl Harbor attack.

Abe’s daughter told the children she visits Pearl Harbor every year on Dec. 7, as a way to honor her father.

Eileen Martinez, chief of interpretations at the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument at Pearl Harbor, said there are few stories with a more powerful message.

"It’s a story of friendship," she said, "and coming to terms with a difficult moment in history."